


The Darkest Magic

by carstairs312



Series: The Darkest Minds at Hogwarts [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Darkest Minds Series - Alexandra Bracken
Genre: F/F, F/M, Hogwarts AU, How Do I Tag, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Original Character(s), POV First Person, POV Original Female Character, Quidditch, darkest minds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:50:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23819449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carstairs312/pseuds/carstairs312
Summary: The Darkest Minds but Hogwarts AU and with my OC Aria Stacey.Aria wants to go to hogwarts. She plans to be an Auror just like her aunt, the only other witch in her family. Unfortunately, her aunt is missing.And it's up to Aria to find her.
Relationships: Cole Stewart/Original Female Character(s), Minerva McGonagall/Original Female Character(s), Ruby Daly/Clancy Gray, Ruby Daly/Liam Stewart, Vida Bautista/Charles Carrington "Chubs" Meriwether IV
Series: The Darkest Minds at Hogwarts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716247
Kudos: 4





	1. Preparations

_ The wand chooses the wizard _ . That’s what Mr Ollivander said to me when he handed me my wand. It was pearwood with a phoenix feather core, 12¾ inches and unbending flexibility. My mum squeezed my shoulder comfortingly and thanked him, while I stood there unsure of how to hold it. 

“Aria, you can be an Auror when you grow up! Just like—”

“Just like my aunt, I know. I’ll make her proud Mum, I promise.”

My aunt was an Auror. The only other known witch in a family full of muggles. My mum’s sister went missing two years ago, presumed dead. She was the first Stacey to be an Auror, and she won’t be the last. 

My tabby cat Juju wrapped her soft paws around my shoulders as she slept, and I took comfort in the vibrations of her purrs behind my neck. I paused to tie my shoelaces, bending down and peering into Knockturn Alley. Since I’m already short, I must have been practically invisible and a skinny boy ran directly into me as I stood up, books spilling everywhere.

“Ah, sorry.” I helped him pick them up, some of the pages were wet from the light drizzle, but the boy looked around before drawing his wand and muttering a spell under his breath to dry them off. On the ground, I noticed a familiar-looking piece of paper. It read  _ HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY. Uniform:  _ _ First-year students _ _ … _ and that’s as far as I got. “You’re a first-year? Hogwarts? Thank god, me too.”

“Really?” He shuffled the placement of the books until they fit neatly under one arm. “I’m Charles, Charles Carrington Meriwether IV.”

I raised an eyebrow, laughing. “You expect me to remember all of that  _ and _ the school list? Can I get a nickname?”

“Just call me Chubs, everyone else does.” He sighed and rubbed his glasses where they had steamed up slightly.

“I’m sorry,  _ Chubs _ ?” My eyebrow went further, causing him to laugh.

He shook his head, smiling slightly before saying, “Long story.”

We walked together a little further, before saying goodbye as ‘Chubs’ had to go to Flourish and Blotts for textbooks and I needed to buy robes from Madam Malkins. There were still a lot of items left on this list, and barely  _ any _ time at all before I had to go home and pack.

~

King’s Cross Station was packed at 10:55 on 1st September. Witches, Wizards and Muggles all raced to get to their trains on time. As I pushed my cart along I muttered to myself, wordlessly counting the platforms as I went past.  _ Where the hell is 9?  _ Platform 9 ¾ was located between platforms nine and ten, and to get to it involved running towards the wall between the two. This worried me slightly. I found myself walking along platform nine when I spotted a boy a couple of years older than me with short, messy blond hair frustratedly slamming his hand against the brick archway between the two platforms. The same wall that appeared to be the entrance to the platform.

He was in my way.

But that wasn’t what got my attention. Even though what he was doing kind of looked painful, my eyes glided straight past him and rested on the cart next to him. Owl cage, classic Hogwarts trunk. Yep, he was a wizard alright.

So I walked towards him.

“Hi? I’ve not got any experience in this, so like I’m not  _ entirely _ sure. But I think you have to walk  _ through _ the wall, rather than punch it?” I put the brakes on my cart and went to stand next to him. He gave a rather exasperated sigh and turned his head towards me.

“Let’s get up  _ early _ ! He said. Let’s get to the train early to not be late for his  _ first year at Hogwarts _ . He said, as he woke me up at FOUR in the  _ bloody _ morning. So I go back to sleep. Wake up at ten-to-nine and they’ve only gone and left without me!” It took a few minutes for me to process this and realise that this kid who I didn’t even know the name of, was practically telling me his whole life story. Or at least, this morning. “Taken the car, so the only option is to take the bus - which was late, by the way. And now I’m here, at 11:00, and it’s shut. So go  _ right ahead _ darlin’, and run at the wall all you like, but it ain’t opening again until the holidays.”

_ It ain’t opening again until the holidays. _

I resorted to his method, banging my fist against the wall like a crazy person, ignoring the passersby who looked like they wanted to call the police. 

“This. Is. Not. Happening!”  _ That’s it. I’m screwed. _ “The plan was to go to Hogwarts, come out with good grades, become an Auror and honour the memory of my aunt. That plan cannot happen, if I’m late for my first day!”

He laughed, like my entire life plan was a joke. I rounded on him, taking a step forward, eyes narrowed. “What?”

“You want to be an Auror? What makes you think you’ll make it as an Auror?”

I thought of my aunt before replying, matter-of-factly. “My aunt was an Auror. It’s in my blood.”

He spoke calmly, yet there was no way to interpret his words as anything other than serious. “Strength is not defined by blood.”

Then the cool exterior slid back up around him again and we had to think fast to decide what to do.

“Right, how are we getting there?” I crossed my arms and looked over at Juju for moral support. She remained asleep, helpful as ever. I gave up on  _ that _ approach and glanced at the boy’s trunk.  _ C. Stewart. _ First name ‘C— ’, last name ‘Stewart’. “And quit eyeing that broomstick of yours, we won’t all fit.”

“Well, I’m not stupid. I had considered it but then there’s the problem of the trunks and stuff. There’s only one other option.”

“Which is?” I asked, honestly not wanting to even know the answer. I probably wasn’t going to like it.

“Apparating.”

I was right, I didn’t like it at all.


	2. New Friends

“No no no no no. No. No way, Stewart. Are you even good at apparition?” I backed away, raising my arms defensively.

“Of course! Who do you take me for? I wouldn’t suggest it if there was any more than a 15% chance that one of us could die!”

_ 15%? Are you freaking kidding me right now? _

“I’m good thanks. I’d rather walk, to be honest.” I grabbed my cart and turned away.

“In that case, say goodbye to your dreams of being an Auror.” He whistled behind me, mock waving. He knew he had me. 

I sighed, “Dammit, Stewart. To the train and no further. It can’t have gone far.”

I grabbed my cart, squeezed my eyes firmly shut and grabbed onto his arm, hanging on like my life depended on it. He laughed, sounding ever so slightly nervous as the station disappeared with an audible pop.

~

I'd travelled by apparition once before. My Aunt took me to Disney once when I was younger. It felt strange and unreal, like my body was floating even though my feet were firmly back on the ground when we arrived. My head rushed.  We appeared in one of the toilet cubicles of the Hogwarts Express, and the moment I felt the security of the walls either side of me, I turned around and promptly vomited into the toilet behind us. “You said you were good at apparition!”

“Hey, I said I was good, kid. I never said I was qualified. I’m a third-year.” He was pretty tall for a third year. Stewart shrugged and rolled up his sleeves in the bathroom mirror revealing a long thin cut along his forearm. “Grab a bit of tissue, would you?” He nodded his head in the direction of the toilet paper, and I reached for one and threw it to him. 

“How’d you learn?” I gave up on him wrapping the wound himself and snatched the tissue back. He winced and drew his arm away as I pulled out my wand. 

“Woah, no thanks. I’ll live.” He moved towards the door, but I grabbed his good arm and pulled him back. 

“Oh grow a pair, would you? If I can apparate with you, you can let me fix your arm.” I pointed my wand at his arm. It couldn't be that hard. I'd seen Aunt Em do it dozens of times - I was an accident-prone child. “ _ Episkey _ .” The cut didn't disappear, but it quartered in size, which was good enough. Stewart flexed his arm to check it over before running it under the cold water. 

“Thanks. My friend taught me over the summer— haven’t had much of a chance to practice too much though.” 

“ _ Clearly. _ ”

“Hey! I got you here, didn’t I? Look, I’m going to go now— can you wait a few minutes before following? You know, so it doesn’t look… weird?” He shuffled towards the door without waiting for an answer.

“Sure,” I rolled my eyes, “Thanks for the ride, by the way.”

~

I walked along the carriages trying to find an empty one, or at least a not completely full one. In the end, I found one with two boys in and when the one by the window turned around, I saw it was none other than Chubs.  I knocked on the door before sliding it open. “Hey, do you mind?” 

“Come on in,” he nodded to the seat opposite him, next to his friend.

“This is Liam. Lee, meet Aria.” 

I slid into the seat and looked upwards, my eyes straying towards Liam’s trunk.  _ L. Stewart. _ Ah, explains the family resemblance. Where his brother’s hair was more curly on top, straight on the sides, Liam’s curled at the edges and was a complete mess on top— but in a nice way. He chucked a pack of sweets at Chubs, who took one out before offering them to me. Red and white striped box?  _ Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans _ . I picked a pink one - Candyfloss, just to be on the safe side. I already knew how nasty those things could get.

Meanwhile, Chubs was violently retching into a bag next to him, practically scraping the contents of the bean he’d eaten from his tongue in disgust. Earwax, probably.

I was about to look out the window when I noticed something was on top of Liam’s head. Of course, a chocolate frog was sitting there. The heat of the carriage had caused it to melt slightly, leaving the ends of his blond hair tinged brown and sticky. Shaking my head, I laughed. As soon as Chubs noticed, he burst out laughing too, both of us too overcome with laughter to actually tell Lee what had taken up residence on his head!

In the end, he caught on and managed to grab the frog as it leapt from him, making a mad dash towards the window. He stuffed it back in the box and wiped the traces of chocolate from his hair. 

We were mid-conversation when there was a knock at the door. Without waiting for an answer, a girl with bright blue hair waltzed in and took a seat, trailing behind her two other boys. 

“Oi Grannie, move over?” She scooted Chubs sideways and motioned for the boys to take a seat. “Everywhere else was full by the time  _ this one _ —” she paused to point at the boy with the curly ginger hair— “Finally got over his travel sickness.” Only then did she appear to notice me. “Oh, you weren’t here earlier? I’m Vida. These two nimrods are Nico and Judith.”

Judith— the ginger one, was babbling to Nico, who wasn’t paying attention. After realising he was getting nowhere with his friend, he turned to me to say hi. 

“Hi, I’m Jude. What’s your name?” He stuck out a hand for me to shake, and the moment I touched it, he shook it vigorously. 

“Aria. How do you guys know each other?”

Jude sighed, looking between them. “We had to stop Vida from murdering them when she found them in this cabin, the last one available.”

From what I had gathered about Vida already, this scenario was highly plausible. Honestly, I would’ve liked to have seen it. 

~

A while later, after we had changed into our robes, Vida had decided to play a game. Well, it was sort of a game, it was made up of placing bets on which house we would each end up in. Pretty much everyone agreed on Jude being in Hufflepuff, and Nico in Ravenclaw, but Vida and Chubs were arguing over whether she would be in Slytherin or not.

“I’m not saying you’re a bad person! I just think that you have multiple Slytherin traits!.”

“Oh, piss off!” She replied, rolling her eyes at him.

Chubs raised his hands in surrender and shifted away from her slightly and towards the window. I thought I heard him mutter something to himself along the lines of, "I was going to talk about how you're goal-orientated and ambitious, should've let me get a word in," he huffed. 

Vida had already bet that Chubs would be Ravenclaw and that Lee would be Hufflepuff, although she hadn’t decided on me just yet. There was at least a pumpkin pasty, peppermint toad and a few sherbet lemons riding on this if she lost. Liam was convinced that he’d be in Gryffindor and that Chubs would too so they were all very hopeful about the results. 

When the train started to slow down, pulling into the station, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Something _very_ unusual. Nico’s bag seemed to already be slowly shuffling out of the door. I put my foot on the strap and used my other foot to nudge his ankle until he looked up.

“What?” he asked impatiently, clearly wanting to get back to whatever he was doing.

“Uhh, your bag was… escaping?” I tilted my head subtly in the direction of his satchel, the bag straining against the hold I had on the strap.

“God, thanks.” Nico grabbed the back and slung it over his shoulder before pulling out his wand and muttering a charm. “ _ Silencio _ .” Unfortunately for him, it didn’t appear to work, and the bag started to make rather loud noises while swelling in size. He shot from the cabin like a rocket, barely opening the sliding door before barrelling through it and leaving a mess of different bits of paper in his wake. 

I picked them up in case they were important and stuffed them into my own small bag before picking up the rucksack and packing the rest of my things away. Once Vida, Jude, Liam and Chubs were all ready, we set off, hoping Nico would meet us there. I still continued to wonder, even after he was gone,  _ what was in that bag? _


	3. The Sorting Ceremony

The castle was magnificent, to put it lightly. The turrets stretched up and the lights inside the windows made it look like something from a fairytale. The enchanted boats took us towards it across the lake. I heard a scream as someone had stuck their hand in the water, pulling it out with a small creature attached to each of the fingers.  _ Note to self: don’t go in the lake _ . 

Liam and Chubs were sharing one boat, with Vida and I in another. Nico had finally returned, his bag still slightly larger than originally but since it wasn’t moving or making any noise, I decided not to question it as I spotted him take a seat in a boat with Jude. 

The boat ride was over before it had even begun, everyone too focused on the castle to even notice that we had already arrived. It was dark, and fireflies lit the way along the path like fairy lights, guiding us towards the castle. Even though it’s not like we could miss it, the structure loomed over us in a way that was both terrifying yet also very exciting. 

When we got out of the boats, Jude was first. Somehow his and Nico’s boat had overtaken all of the others and Nico almost fell out as his friend leapt out of it in a rush of excitement. The same could not be said for Chubs. As Liam hopped out of the boat, he tripped over the oars and landed on another student— the girl went bright red and stammered an embarrassed hello as he picked himself up. Anyway, Lee’s clumsiness caused the boat to rock, almost knocking Chubs over the side. He panicked and managed to steady it, but his glasses were lost to the murky current.

“Dammit.” He cursed as Lee apologised and helped him from the boat. Vida was doubled over laughing, no help as I found Chubs’ wand at his request and handed it over. He pointed it towards the water and said with a sigh, “ _ Accio _ glasses.” I watched in amazement as they shot up from the water and into his arms. Followed by six other pairs. He dried his own off using his robes and put the somewhat bent frames back on, muttering something about finding a spell to fix them later as he pocketed the others to give to lost property.

“I think you were supposed to be more specific,” I tried to hide my laughter. “You have  _ got _ to teach me that spell,” I hissed the last part, as we were supposed to be walking in silence up the stairs to the Great Hall. 

“Sure, it comes in handy for a lot of situations. Mainly for different versions of what just happened. I use it on a daily basis.” Chubs whispered back.

The Great Hall doors opened, and the rest of the first years were ushered into an already full giant banquet hall. The ceiling gave the impression of the night sky, where floating candles helped light the room. The teachers had a long table that ran across the end of the room, with Professor McGonagall standing at the head of all of the tables. The four student tables ran along the length of the hall, starting by the door and ending by the staff, with each table belonging to a house.

We were marched towards where the Headmistress stood, and in front of her sat a stool, with an old hat on top of it. As we stopped in front of it, the old brown hat started to sing and there were a few muffled gasps at the fact that the hat in front of us was  _ singing _ . Any other day I would’ve been surprised, but with flying pairs of glasses and bags that try to escape, I merely raised my eyebrows and thought to myself,  _ Oh, it sings. That’s cool. _

Then, Professor McGonagall started to read out our names in alphabetical order for the sorting ceremony. 

“Abbott, Elizabeth.” A girl with cropped, shiny blonde hair stepped up to the chair nervously. She had numerous piercings in the cartilage of both ears, and she gingerly took a seat as the hat was lowered down onto her head. We waited in anticipation, leaning forwards slightly to hear the hat’s answer. 

“RAVENCLAW!” The hat shouted, and the table belonging to Ravenclaw erupted in cheers. The hat was removed from her head, and the next person was called up.

“Bautista, Vida.” Like a queen, Vida waltzed up and took a seat, ready for the hat to be placed on her head. Although, it might have just been me, but I could’ve sworn she looked slightly nervous. The hat sat on her head, contemplating her strengths and weaknesses. In the end, it wasn’t just me, because I did notice that her fingers were crossed behind her back slightly. She was whispering something to herself, or maybe to the hat— I couldn’t tell. I took a deep breath, waiting for the hat to do it’s thing and shout.

“GRYFFINDOR!” She breathed a sigh of relief and slid into the table decorated in red, relaxing instantly as if she felt at home.

“Conner, Jude,” I swear he was practically vibrating as he walked through the crowd. Jude’s hair bounced as he sat down, and the hat barely touched his head before yelling— 

“HUFFLEPUFF!” Jude raced towards the table before greeting everyone, already making tons of new friends. Even after he practically jumped out of his skin when he accidentally walked through the Fat Friar!

Samantha Dahl was next, another Gryffindor, followed by Ruby Daly, also Gryffindor. When Ruby walked towards the hat, I couldn’t help but notice that Liam’s eyes never left her.  _ Ooooh, someone was crushing.  _ **_Hard_ ** _. _

After them, a boy named Clancy Gray who was tall with wavy black hair. He didn’t even sit down before the hat barked “SLYTHERIN” and he greeted a table of people he seemed to already know. They all applauded and shook his hand before he sat down. Who is this kid, royalty? I already didn’t like him.

There were a few other names called, people I didn’t know. Two Hufflepuffs, a Ravenclaw and another Slytherin. My ears pricked up at the next name. “Charles Meriwether.” 

Liam patted him on the back and Chubs adjusted his classes as he walked towards the hat. The hat was rested on his head and it appeared to contemplate the entire meaning of life before finally announcing “GRYFFINDOR!” Chubs grinned and sat down at the table, next to a rather annoyed looking Vida who instantly began to argue over the previous bet.

The next kid was called Lucas Orfeo or something, and he was placed in Hufflepuff. Then he was followed by Nico who proudly stood up from the chair and walked to Ravenclaw after his house was announced. 

No sooner had Nico taken his place at the table in blue had my name been called. I blinked. ”Aria Stacey.” Wait, that’s me, isn’t it? Lee gave me a reassuring smile, and a slight push forwards to get me going towards the chair. I sat down and fiddled my hands in my lap, looking at the ground. When I looked upwards, the Gryffindor table was directly in front of me, and I could feel someone watching me. I locked eyes with the one and only Stewart. Liam's brother. He gave me a wink and I rolled my eyes, causing him to need to hide his laughter with a cough and getting strange looks around him. 

“Well, you’re an awkward one— aren’t you?” It took a moment to realise that the voice I heard wasn’t a teacher, but the hat, on my head,  _ talking to me. _

“Thanks,” I thought as I tried not to show how nervous I was.

“You’re all over the place!”

“ _ Thanks. _ ”

“It’s like someone got a mixing pot, put in a load of Gryffindor, lots of Ravenclaw, sprinkled in some Hufflepuff and added some Slytherin tendencies.”

“Thanks for that.”

“You’re giving me a hat-ache."

"Hat-ache?"

"Well I don't exactly have a head, do I?  I’d say Slytherin is a bigger possibility than Hufflepuff, but it’s really between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Do you at least have a preference?”

I sighed, looking at the two tables. “Aren’t you supposed to be reading my mind or whatever?” 

“That's what I'm doing. So you want to be an Auror?”

“Yeah.” I wasn’t sure what to say. “After Hogwarts. My Aunt was an Auror, I want to make her proud.”

“You’re lying. There’s no point in that.”

“Really, I want to find her, she’s missing. She’s family. I know she's alive.” There was an uncomfortable silence that followed, and I fiddled with my hands in my lap for something to do. 

“Which is more important? Her or becoming an Auror? Do you feel the need to prove yourself?”

“Her.” I didn’t even need to contemplate. 

The hat seemed to like that answer. “That was rather quick.”

“The other answers didn’t come close,” I stated matter-of-factly. “Do you have an answer or not? I’m hungry.”

“GRYFFINDOR!” The hat shouted, before saying quietly, just to me. “I think they’ll be good for you.”

I stood up and removed the hat, placing it back on the stool before going and sitting between Vi and Chubs, defusing whatever argument they were having to get their attention— Liam was up next.

He walked towards the hat and it began to speak softly. Lee looked sort of embarrassed, and even though Cole seemed disinterested, I saw his fingers crossed behind his back and it appeared that he was rooting for his brother too. 

“GRYFFINDOR!” I’ve never seen anyone grin wider as he slid into the seat between Chubs and the girl on his right— Ruby,  _ coincidentally _ the same person he almost fell on getting out of the boats earlier… Maybe there’s a pattern here? I nudged Chubs and he looked over and sighed. 

“Kid’s like a puppy dog, I swear. Never misses the chance to meet someone new.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.  _ Look _ .” I nudged him and discreetly pointed at the two Next to us. Liam was laughing and Ruby had a shy smile on her face as she spoke, slowly opening up and getting into the conversation. “Not gonna lie, I ship it.”

“You  _ ship _ it? I’m not following.”

Vida, who apparently had been listening in on the whole conversation shook her head and patted him on the shoulder. “Oh, Grannie. I can’t even.”


	4. Defence Against The Dark Arts

Walking through the grounds after the first Herbology class, I had to make my way through the field where the flying lessons were. My first flying lesson was in two days time and I honestly didn’t want to wait. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Nico in the corner of the courtyard, his stuff spread out all around him haphazardly.

“Hey,” I waved as I came over. He scooted to the right slightly to give me some room to sit down. “What are you up to?” 

He sighed, “No offence, but if I told you you probably wouldn’t understand.” 

“Hey!” 

“I said no offence! I had to lead with that because the last four people who have asked me what I was doing didn’t have a clue what I was going on about!” Nico connected a wire to a sheet of metal that was spread out in front of him.

“Try me,” I leant over it.

“I’m making a solar-powered WiFi router. They say that no muggle technology works at Hogwarts but that's a lie, they just don't know how to work it. I was in a room the other day with 4 bars of signal, but I haven't been able to find it since. This place has no sockets whatsoever so— feel free to stop me— I wanted to try and get a working internet connection.” He pointed and I realised that the sheet of metal was actually a solar panel, connected to a small black box and a portable charger.

I almost hugged him. “You’re joking! This is brilliant! Is that a portable charger? I haven’t been able to charge my phone for days! No offence, but wizarding world music is not anywhere in the same ballpark as Imagine Dragons.” 

His face lit up and he started explaining how he was doing it, and that he was a halfblood, so Nico had grown up with a family that enjoyed using science and magic, and a quite dangerous combination of the two. We both became so distracted by the conversation, he only just noticed in time that his bag was escaping…  _ again? _ Nico grabbed it and slung it over his shoulder in an attempt to be inconspicuous. Needless to say, it didn’t work.

“What the hell have you got in there?” I leant forwards to try and peer in but he pulled the bag away, shaking his head.

“Love to chat, really would. But I’ve got Charms. Bye!” He stood up to go and the moment he was upright, bolted across the courtyard and back into the school. I shook my head and sighed, taking out my own timetable and looking it over. The brief time period between breakfast, Herbology and now hadn’t given me an opportunity to try and learn it.  _ Charms. _ Taking the only chance I had, I shot from the courtyard and down the corridor that Nico had disappeared into. I could see him trying to get to class, and it would be relatively easy to pick up the pace to catch up to him and continue the conversation. He turned the corner and I prepared to take the same route, following him along until he disappeared through the door into the classroom. I looked up as the door shut, just in time to run straight into— 

“You again?” I rolled my eyes as I scooped my charms textbook up from the floor.

“Bloody hell, twice in two days? I just realised I never caught your name, I’m Cole by the way.” Stewart grabbed his own textbook from the floor and shook his head at me. He opened his mouth as if to say something, before looking from my textbook to the classroom behind me. “You’re late, by the way.”

“I know, thanks.” I couldn’t have been any more sarcastic if I tried. “I’m already late, see you around.”

Cole winked, “Only if you’re lucky.”

I pushed open the door to classroom 2E and Professor Flitwick pointed to a seat for me to take. As the wooden stool scraped across the floor I winced at the noise before putting my textbooks down and the lesson started. 

~

So I now know how to levitate and repair things, using  _ Wingardium Leviosa _ and  _ Reparo _ . Chubs, Vida and Liam seemed to understand levitation instantly but I didn’t seem to get Flitwick’s explanation until Chubs reached forwards from his seat behind me and showed me how to do it. Ruby managed to show Liam how to do  _ Reparo _ , but he was so painfully bad at repairing the cracked bowl he had been given it split into even more pieces. She ended up putting her hand over his and physically demonstrating how to do it. He got so flustered by it he knocked Vida’s bowl straight on the floor with his other arm. 

“ _ Anaticula _ ,” she pointed her wand at him. Nothing happened. Vida simply smiled angelically and cleared her bowl off the floor, repairing it.

At the end of the lesson, we packed up our things and got ready to go to Defence Against the Dark Arts. Vida, of all people, was extremely excited for her first lesson. God knows why, pretty much  _ everyone _ knows that Hogwarts has a bit of a reputation when it comes to DADA Professors. Then again, it’s supposed to not be jinxed anymore so who knows? Maybe we’ll get lucky. 

The DADA classroom wasn’t easy to find, but we almost missed it and had to double back along the corridor before going in. This was a class where all of the houses were mixed, and let’s just say that caused a bit of… drama?

The seats were along the sides of the room, leaving space to practice spells in the middle. Gryffindor and Slytherin on one side, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff on the other. I was not happy to see that fancy kid from Slytherin— whatshisface… Clancy? Looking at Ruby. He was practically staring at her from his seat a few rows behind. It was kind of creepy. Plus, she was a way better fit for Lee anyway.

We sat down, having a casual chat as the teacher didn’t seem to be there yet. 

“Can you help me dye my hair later? I want to go house colours and the spell’s a killer, so I’m going to do it in the second-floor bathrooms.” Vida nudged me, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. It was currently blue, and apparently she didn’t take lightly to being called Ravenclaw. 

“Sure, but isn’t there a ghost in the second-floor bathroom?” I asked, remembering somewhere I’d heard about someone called Moaning Myrtle. 

She grinned, “That’s what makes it all the more fun.”

We were interrupted by Chubs, pointing at the back of the room. “Look! Smoke!”

Sure enough, a long wisp of fog was beginning to slowly fill the room, engulfing the students at the back first before making its way to the front. It wasn’t long before it had completely taken over the room and I could barely see my hands in front of me. High heels clicked on the wooden floorboards, the owner making their way to the front of the room where we had tried to direct our eyes in anticipation. 

A quiet voice whispered, “ _ Ventus. _ ” The smoke slowly began to clear, revealing our professor standing at the front of the classroom, arms crossed and a pleased look on her face. She was tall, but it could just have been the bright pink stiletto heels she was wearing. The heels were only a shade darker than her hair, which was in a no-nonsense cut that didn’t even reach her shoulders. Unlike every other teacher, she wore a grey pantsuit with a similar shade of pink blouse underneath. 

“Love a dramatic entrance. Let’s get cracking, shall we?” She paced the front of the classroom, eager to begin, her heels still the only other noise in the classroom. “My name is Professor Adeline West, but you can call me Professor West. Or just West, I don’t really care that much as long as you learn  _ something _ from me. Even if it is just my name.” I liked her already. “I will be your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. The charm I just used, can anyone tell me what that was?”

Chubs’ hand, among others, shot up instantly. Professor West pointed at him with the other end of her wand— she was throwing it at the time, up in the air and catching it— he cleared his throat before speaking, suddenly nervous of the number of people in the room. “It was a smokescreen charm,  _ fumos _ . Usually used for a concealed escape or a distraction.”

“Perfect. 10 points to Gryffindor. Can you perform the charm, Mr…” She paused before continuing, holding her hand up to stop him for a second as she stretched out her other arm, hand open to catch the book as it flew towards her through the open classroom door. “Charles. Charles Meriwether.” West nodded at the book as it left the classroom. “Right, sorry about that. Continue, Charles.”

“Um, no Professor. I can’t.” He bit his lip sheepishly. 

“Brilliant! That only means I’ve got something to teach you. But we aren’t learning those just yet. Give it time, maybe in a few weeks time. This lesson, we will be doing the full body-binding curse. Find a partner— preferably someone you don’t like, I don’t want to go breaking up any new friendships— and I will tell you how to do it. Don’t worry, it is very reversible.  _ Most of the time… _ ”

Vida smirked as she stood up, dragging Chubs with her and finding a space to practice. Somehow, Clancy had noticed that he wasn’t the only one looking at Ruby, and made a beeline for Liam. Seeing exactly where this was going, I stepped between them at the last moment, offering a handshake. “Hi, I’m Aria. Partners?”

He looked taken aback, surprised at my sudden appearance. After a moment or two of caution, he shook my hand and nodded. “Alright.” So we found a space of our own to practice. Ruby ended up being with another Gryffindor girl who’s name possibly could’ve been Sam, and Liam was talking to a boy called Lucas who I sort of remembered from the sorting ceremony. 

With a flick of her wand, Professor West moved the chairs and tables out of the way, stacking them in the corners to allow us more space. She walked up and down the middle, her silver origami cat-shaped earrings clinking slightly. I decided then, although I might’ve already, that her style is definitely one to be admired. 

“I will teach you this spell under one condition, please remember the counter-curse. It is much more useful. People on my left side, point your wand at your partner and when I count to three, say the spell  _ Petrificus Totalus _ . Only once I’ve counted to three. And when you do it, copy this wand movement.” The chalk lifted up of its own accord and drew a hook-like shape on the blackboard at the front of the room. “1, 2—”

“ _ PETRIFICUS TOTALUS! _ ” Clancy Gray deliberately aimed away from me, a few more inches to the right and as he made the movement, his wand pointed dead at Liam. Luckily enough for Lee, the spell didn’t work the first time around. I heard a quiet cough behind me and an almost silent muttering, before Clancy’s arms and legs snapped together and he fell to the ground, hitting the floor with a thud. Risking a glance back, I look at the people nearest to me. Only one person had his wand out, and Chubs was currently looking around the room, anywhere other than making direct eye contact. A slow smile spread across my face.

“In hindsight, I probably should’ve put mats down. Well, they can’t all be winners. Which one of you succeeded in casting the charm?”

An instantly unlikable little snitch from Slytherin pointed at Chubs, as he had seen him do it. “That kid.”

Professor West smiled at the boy. “Thank you for your honesty, Martin. 10 more points to Gryffindor.”

“But Professor, I’m in Slytherin!” Martin protested, trying to get her attention. 

“And did you successfully cast a body-binding charm?” The room went silent. “Didn’t think so. Charles here saw the danger of his classmate having a horrifically bad aim and stepped in before he could do any harm. DADA is all about thinking in the moment about protecting yourself, and others. Getting hit by this particular spell at that sort of angle could easily have caused young Stewart here to smash his pretty head in on that badly-placed desk behind him. Charles averted that.” Liam paled at the thought, his hand unconsciously rising upwards to check his head was still intact. However, West still wasn’t finished. “Oh, and Martin dear? Nobody likes a snitch, especially not this early in the term.” 

Chubs tried not to smile, not entirely wanting the attention he’d just received but not completely hating it either. I tapped him on the shoulder to get him to high five me. 

“Now. Let’s continue with the lesson. Leave Mr Gray where he is, I’m sure he’s comfortable down there.”

Wands were raised again, and we prepared to continue. I had to wait until someone else had successfully cast the spell so I could take them as my new partner, considering my current partner was spending the next twenty minutes lying flat on the floor of the classroom. I heard a loud scream and turned around, my ears still ringing. Lizzie, a Ravenclaw, was currently being chased around the room by a group of ducks, all six of them attempting to eat the back of her robes. Professor West looked on, intrigued. “Tell me, Liam. How did you manage to do that?”

Liam stood there, bewildered. “I just— they appeared when I—  _ what _ ?”

The cause was apparent when Vida failed to contain her laughter any longer. She burst out laughing, leaning on Ruby for support. It was quite a sight, to see Lizzie trying to fend off the ducks. “ _ Anaticula _ .” Between breaths, Vida managed to pant out the spell she’d used. “Until the counter-curse is performed, not by  _ him _ obviously. Ducks will appear every time you try to cast a spell.” I have to say, it was pretty brilliant. Most of us were laughing, even as Professor West cast open the window and shooed the ducks out, giving five points to Ravenclaw for Lizzie being a good sport. 

After Professor West removed the jinx on Liam’s wand, and he finally managed to cast the body-binding charm, she taught us the counter-curse. “ _ Finite _ or  _ Finite Incantatem _ is a generic counter-curse that can counteract or reverse the effects of a spell.” She demonstrated by freeing half of the students from the previous charm, and finally reversing the effects on Clancy. He stood up, stretching his limbs and muttering to himself angrily. 

When the lesson was finally over, Professor West dismissed us for lunch. The classroom wasn’t even completely empty before she started putting the tables and chairs back in place, making Jude have to do a little jump to catch his bag before his chair started to fly across the room. 

I caught up with Nico on the way out and he sighed, already expecting my question. 

“So, what’s in the bag?”


	5. Sleepless Nights and Party Planning

Once again, Nico refused to tell me what was in his bag. He left lunch early and held it with him at all times. So what if I’m a little curious? It literally tried to escape the other day! By the end of Transfiguration with Professor Alban, I was exhausted and ready to crash into bed. Who knew learning magic could be so exhausting? There were already so many spells to remember, so many books to read and so. much.  _ homework _ . 

But I had already promised Vida about the hair dying, so after dinner we sneaked up to the second-floor girls bathroom. I kept watch while Vida went inside to check if the coast was clear. No sooner had she entered than had Vi come running back out, dragging me with her. “Nope. Not going back in there. Ever. I can’t unsee that.” 

I thought it best not to ask. 

That night, after folding away my things and letting Juju curl up on top of my stomach, I drifted off to sleep. 

We were watching a Quidditch match. At least, that’s what I thought it was— I’d never been to one before, so it had to have been. It was Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Vida was cheering next to me, her hair in house colours, Jude’s entire face was covered in red and gold paint on the way in and Ruby, Chubs and Liam had two red and gold stripes across their faces like warpaint. We were all chanting, watching as the players soar through the air. Two players, one from each team were chasing something up into the air when another enchanted ball came up behind them. The Slytherin player noticed it and veered to the right slightly in an attempt to avoid it. The Gryffindor player didn’t.

The ball smashed into the player’s chest, taking him upwards through the clouds and disappearing, leaving the abandoned broom going around in circles in the place where it’s rider once was. The pitch went silent, everyone watching and waiting for the player to reappear. Everyone knew what was about to happen. Professor McGonagall got out of her seat to make her way down to the sand at the bottom of the pitch.

He reappeared. 

The player fell from the sky like a shooting star, the red and gold uniform however padded did nothing to save him as the player got closer to the ground. A girl screamed as the player hit the ground, the impact causing sand to rise up around him. 

And then I woke up.

My heart was hammering against my chest as I struggled to breathe.  _ What the hell was that? _ Unable to get back to sleep, and after apologising to Juju for waking her up, I threw on a jumper over my pyjamas and silently began to make my way down the stairs to the common room. For some unknown reason, I left through the Fat Lady’s portrait and sneaked off towards the kitchens for a late-night snack. 

As it turned out, I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep. 

Jude was curled up on a blanket in front of the great fireplace, sipping a mug of hot chocolate and reading. I sat down opposite him, leaning against a long wooden table and trying not to disturb him. 

“Couldn’t sleep?” He looked up from his book to talk to me.

“No, you?”

“Neither.” Jude put the book down and brushed a piece of curly hair from his face. “Nightmare? Homesickness?”

“Nightmare,” I replied. 

“I get those too,” he mumbled back, taking another sip of his hot chocolate before placing the mug down gently on the stone floor next to him. “Do you remember what happened?”

I sighed, drawing my feet up. “A little.” 

“I know what they’re like.”

Having never been good at heart to heart conversations, I tried to make an effort in Jude’s case. ‘Do you maybe want to talk about it?” 

His hair fell back in his face as he shook his head. He can tell me when he’s ready, or never. It’s his choice. “I’m bored. You know any good card games?”

“Well, I’ve played Cheat a few times with my Aunt. But I don’t have any cards.” I tried to recall the card game she taught me one Christmas when I was little. 

“Brilliant. Nico showed me how to play once. And I do, actually.”

So we forgot our problems for a little while, and played Cheat at half-past midnight.

~

I had that dream every night for a week, and every night I played Cheat with Jude in the kitchens until the crack of dawn. One night, there was a second mug of hot chocolate waiting for me next to his by the fireplace. The same thing happened every night after. It was a wonder we didn’t get caught, it would be hell if we did. Sneaking downstairs to the common room was one thing, but all the way to the kitchens? I was surprised that a ghost hadn’t snitched on us, but according to Jude, they were all good friends with him. Apart from bloody  _ Peeves _ who kept the secret only to throw things at me on the way to the kitchens. 

We both had bags under our eyes from lack of sleep, but at least I had someone to talk to on the nights I couldn’t sleep. I kept getting the feeling that sometimes Jude waited up for me. He never feared getting caught, but the Hufflepuff common room and dorms were right by the kitchens, I had to sneak across the corridors in the dark and down multiple flights of stairs to get there, all the while avoiding Filch the caretaker. 

One night, I found Jude chatting to two of the house-elf cooks. He introduced me to them. “Aria, these are Roddy and Dibsy,” he said while gesturing to them in turn. “They offered to make my hot chocolate on the first night.” The two elves waved to me. 

“Hi. Thank you for the hot chocolate,” I smiled, picking up my mug and taking a sip. “So you guys do all the cooking, right?”

“Yes.” Roddy stepped forward, nodding. “But not just us, of course. There are lots and lots of us.”

“You’re very good cooks,” I sat down opposite Jude, crossing my legs. I noticed they were looking at the cards in Jude’s hands sheepishly. “Would you like to play?” 

They nodded vigorously, moving their heads up and down with such excitement it was a wonder they didn’t fall off. Dibsy sat down first, and Roddy next to her on either side of me. They liked the game so much, Jude gifted them the pack of cards to let them teach it to the other house-elves for when they weren’t working. 

And that was how half of the Hogwarts house-elves discovered Cheat. 

~

It was the beginning of the second week of the term when we had our first flying lesson with Madam Hooch. The Gryffindors stood in a row opposite the Slytherins, each next to a broom. Some of us found it easy to execute the first instructions, others… not so much. “Up!” The broom flew into my hand on the third try, humming under my fingertips. Chubs managed after a while, Vida was confident in it and her broom rose instantly— her sister was on the Quidditch team— and Liam… 

“Sports isn’t exactly his strong suit.” Chubs hissed to me as Liam’s broom rolled back and forth along the ground. Despite his continuous commanding, the broom didn’t seem too keen on listening to Lee. At least there hadn’t been any more incidents like the duck one, but Clancy Gray still kept glaring at him when he thought no-one was watching. 

“Now, mount your broomsticks.” Liam’s broom finally came up, only to hit him in the face and split his lip. You could hear Clancy’s laughing echoing and I was about to shut him up when he let out an inhuman groan, clutching his crotch. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Chubs slide his wand back in his robes, and tried not to let the smile on my face become too obvious.

The rest of the lesson involved kicking off from the ground and hovering above the air slightly before coming back down. Almost everyone managed it, and after that, it was pretty much uneventful. At lunch, I caught Chubs reading a letter, and tried to peer over his shoulder to see what he was reading. He tore it away before I saw more than two words, muttering something about privacy.  _ Happy Birthday. _

I found Liam within ten minutes, Vida in tow. “You didn’t tell me it was Chubs’ birthday!”

“What do you mean? His birthday’s on the 20th of September!”

“That’s today, nimrod!” Vida chimed in, folding her arms. 

I followed suit, “We should do something for him.”

“Like what?” Vi rolled her eyes at me, “Hire out the library? The kid would have a  _ blast _ .”

Liam cocked his head to the side, thinking. “We could throw him a surprise party? I think we have a free period just before dinner so with some help I could set something up?”

“Hey, what are you guys talking about?” Ruby walked up, soon followed by Nico and Jude. 

“Chubs’ birthday,” We chorused, and the look on her face told us she hadn’t known either.

I pulled Jude aside, “Do you think you could ask the house-elves to organise some food? I know it’s last-minute but—” 

“Of course.” He smiled.

Ruby piped up, “But that doesn’t matter if we don’t know where we’re having it.”

“Gryffindor common room?” Vida suggested.

“But then how will Nico and Jude get there?”

“I’ll let them in.” I decided. “You guys sort this out in the free period, I’ll distract Chubs.” 

“How?” Nico asked, “Won’t he be suspicious?”

I shook my head. I already had the perfect plan. 


End file.
